The combination of community, service, and academics are what stand out to me about [being a] Thresher. With small classes, attentive professors, and the focus on service…students get the opportunity to excel in multiple areas.Cassidy McFadden ’12

Bethel adds Accounting concentration, Health Studies certificate

NORTH NEWTON, KAN. – Bethel College has recently made two curriculum additions: an Accounting concentration (part of the business major) and a certificate in Interprofessional Health Studies.

“Accounting is an area of study often cited by Kansas high school graduates and our prospective students as a desired program,” said Brad Born, vice president for academic affairs, “and accounting and finance careers are an important track for college graduates.

“Adding a Finance/Accounting concentration in our business administration major responds to that student need, and strengthens the business and economics department.”

The Interprofessional Health Studies certificate is designed to bring together students with varied interests in health-related and human service professions to help them see their own chosen profession in the context of the many that provide health care and mental health care.

Today, it is becoming more and more common for health-care and mental health-care providers to work together in professional teams, Born said.

That means each team member should be able to appreciate the contributions of those with professional training different from her/his own.

The 16-credit-hour Interprofessional Health Services certificate will include required courses in nutrition, health-care ethics, biopsychology and human service skills. An internship in a health-care setting will be another important requirement of the certificate.

Additional hours will be chosen based on the student’s interests – from athletic training, neuropsychology, counseling, social work, nursing or pathophysiology.

While existing faculty will cover the Interprofessional Health Services course requirements, the new concentration in Accounting also means a new faculty member in the business and economics department.

Yanxu Liu, who is finishing Ph.D. work at Utah State University, will teach accounting and finance courses beginning in fall 2014.

She has a B.A. in accounting from Jilin Finance and Trade College, Changchun, China, and an M.A. in management from Northeast Dianli University, Jilin, China. She has defended her dissertation in economics and will formally complete her Ph.D. degree later this academic year.

The Department of Applied Economics at Utah State is closely allied with the School of Agriculture. Liu’s dissertation research focuses on the effects of externalities on optimal control of invasive species.

At Utah State, Liu has taught Mathematical Economics and currently teaches advanced-level courses for the Department of Applied Economics.

She previously taught accounting at Northeast Dianli University (where she was named Teacher of the Year in 2006) and statistics at the Worker’s College of Jilin Chemical Industry Group.

Liu also has practical experience in industry – six years as an accountant at Jilin Petrochemicals Ltd. and one year as head of the finance and accounting department at the same company. She is a member of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants and is currently in the process of completing the U.S. uniform CPA exams.

Bethel College is the only private, liberal arts college in Kansas listed in the 2013-14 Forbes.com analysis of top colleges and universities in the United States, and is the highest-ranked Kansas college in the Washington Monthly annual college guide for 2013-14. The four-year liberal arts college is affiliated with Mennonite Church USA. For more information, see www.bethelks.edu.

Back to News Bethel has recently made two curriculum additions: an Accounting concentration (part of the business major) and a certificate in Interprofessional Health Studies. …